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JOAN JETT Q&A: What she thinks of 'The RUNAWAYS' and Kristen Stewart
from: nydailynews.com
by Jim Farber
They were universally mocked no matter how hard they rocked.
The RUNAWAYS, the world's first all-girl teenage rock band - who stormed out from L.A. in the mid-'70s - endured scathing reviews, scornful audiences and a manager who often undermined their best efforts.
Now there's a movie capturing their wild, painful and ecstatic ride. "The RUNAWAYS," now in theaters, stars "Twilight's" Kristen Stewart as JOAN JETT, the band's creative heart, and Dakota Fanning as Cherie Currie, its spitfire singer.
Jett went on to become the most successful Runaway, scoring No. 1 hits and sustaining an esteemed career more than three decades after the group of jail-bait rockers ran out of steam. (Her double CD "Greatest Hits" comes out this week.)
Jett also serves as executive producer of the movie. But did that help the flick get the story right?
You're the ultimate witness on the RUNAWAYS. How much of the film is accurate, and how much of it uses "poetic license"?
Well, it's a movie, so it's never exactly right. They have to set up a bad guy and a good guy, a winner and loser.
The movie's ultimate bad guy would be your manager, Kim Fowley, played with chilling accuracy by Michael Shannon. Was he as abusive as the movie portrays?
There was more friendship than was shown. I never really had a falling-out with him, even after the band broke up. Disharmony is natural in any band. But there were times when we were on the same page. Kim and Cherie and I still have an extremely intimate bond.
What does Fowley think of the film?
I'm not exactly sure. I know he doesn't hate it because I would have heard about it if that were true.
The movie has real edge: The first shot is of Cherie having her period. Also, the band members seem to be in a near constant state of desperation and humiliation. Was it really that bad?
We wanted to show people what we went through. A lot of roadblocks were thrown up. But it was also a lot of fun. We were really friendly with each other and we did get along a lot of the time.
The movie shows you getting along particularly well with Cherie. There's a scene where you two have sex. There's also implicit lesbian lust in other scenes. Publicly, you never talk about your sexuality. How do you feel about the way it's portrayed in the film?
This is obviously something that the director (Floria Sigismondi) wanted to focus on. I focus on the music. It doesn't bother me, one way or the other, that it's in there. I'm not uncomfortable with it. But that doesn't mean it's something I'm going to discuss.
The movie is based on Cherie's book "Neon Angel." How did you and longtime manager KENNY LAGUNA get involved in the movie as executive producers?
It's been a long process. Kenny started out to get Cherie's book published. We thought maybe it could be a TV movie. But nobody bit. Then JT LeRoy came on to write the screenplay. Then that whole thing came out where JT LeRoy was not a real person and that ended. Then (the production company) River Road came on board and now it was becoming a real thing. So I had to make a decision. Am I going to do this or just say "I don't want a movie"? I definitely had a lot of fears about it. The band means so much to me, and you have to give up a level of control. I just had to trust that the gods of rock 'n' roll would watch over it.
They certainly did in the performance of Kristen Stewart. She's so like you it's eerie.
We met right after the first "Twilight" came out. I spent hours dumping every RUNAWAYS memory on her. I tried to explain to her what the band meant to me. I probably told her details I wouldn't tell anyone, things I would never tell the press. I gave her a tape of me speaking at age 14. I sent her bootlegs of shows from 1976. I showed the guitar fingerings I use. I could feel her studying me, my way of speaking, my posture. It was like being around a mirror. She's amazing.
It's been 35 years since the band first played. What has changed for women in rock, and what hasn't?
I don't think much has changed, to tell you the truth. The media says that equality for women has arrived, but if you look around, you still don't see girls playing guitars and having success with it. What's different is that there are now girls in every city playing in bands. Girls feel that it's okay to pick up a guitar, which they didn't when I started. But as far as getting accepted by a wider audience, it's still not happening.
What do you hope people take away from this film about the RUNAWAYS?
That we were a great band. We were good musicians. When I think that people said back then we couldn't play, it makes me laugh. Whatever issues we had, I'm still very proud of what we did. A lot of people are not even aware of the RUNAWAYS. This will introduce them. They can go back to the music and hear for themselves.
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